From ancient times to the present, there have always been two points of view: idealism and materialism!

From ancient times to the present day, the idealistic view has always prevailed.

Before Lao Tzu, there were prophets who believed that the world was changing. But! Their views have never been recognized. In the time of Lao Tzu, he was well-read, and he also believed that the world was "evolved". But! The same is not recognized.

Idealistic thought begins when human beings have a mind. To put it bluntly, the religion and superstition are all imagined by the human brain. So! He is unscientific. But! Materialists are unable to explain the specific origin of things, and they are also unable to prove that their views are correct.

Just like in a society governed by the rule of law: if you find out that someone else has done something bad, or if you see someone else killing or stealing, everyone can prove that person is a bad person. But! You can't get evidence of his crime, your evidence can't form a chain of evidence, and you can't take this bad guy.

This is not an appropriate example, but the general meaning is this: people with materialist views have not been accepted by the world because they cannot prove that their views are correct.

The viewpoints of materialism and idealism are different, and our guiding ideology is different, which directly affects our attitude towards life and the way we deal with the world.

Not to mention in the Spring and Autumn Period, even in today's society, there are the same problems and differences: materialism and idealism.

There are a lot of idealistic people, and you can't respect their opinions?

Furthermore! In terms of numbers, there are many people who hold an idealistic viewpoint and a small number of people who hold a materialistic viewpoint, and if they want to forcibly promote it, it will inevitably lead to great chaos in the world. So! Most countries advocate "respect for belief and freedom of belief".

Of course! This is just a perfunctory method of "harmony and mud", not a fundamental solution to the problem.

The fundamental solution to the problem should be to vigorously publicize the concept of scientific cognition, so that more people can understand the world and natural science from a scientific point of view, and let the people of the world consciously choose faith.

When Confucius asked this question, Lao Tzu was very happy and worried. Happily, Confucius took into account the depth of the problem. Worriedly: if Confucius is an idealistic view, then! He still does not have a full understanding of Taoism.

When Confucius asked this question, Lao Tzu answered him directly: "There are no gods and ghosts!" ”

Moreover! made his explanation: he thinks! Everything comes from the maturity of the human mind. Everything is imagined by human beings when they have a mind. Because! At that time, human beings did not know much about the world and did not know too much about natural phenomena. When it can't be explained, it is imagined that there are gods and ghosts, and so on. And then! There is a custom of sacrificing to the gods and ghosts of heaven and earth.

There is only sacrifice, and the gods and ghosts are exalted so that they will no longer harm the world. Or! Imagine where you did something wrong, offended the gods and ghosts of heaven and earth, and then reflect on yourself......

"That? Why doesn't the gentleman just state that the Tao is not a god? Confucius asked again.

"There is no way! We must respect the customs and habits of the world! Can't be rebellious! Getting the world to accept the idea that there are no gods may be opposed by the world! Even! will bring the disaster of death......"

"Killing?"

"Do you want to? If I, Li Er, were to preach outside, and directly say that there are no gods, and there is no need to sacrifice to the gods of heaven and earth, and to worship demons and monsters? It is not only the "gods" who are angry, not only the people of the world, but also the Son of Heaven and the princes and kings of the world. What if that's the case? I'm dead! ……”

Lao Tzu explained the actual situation, in this helpless situation, he did not dare to mention "materialism", he could only be ambiguous! But! In the process of spreading Taoism, as well as in the Tao Te Ching, which has been handed down, he is materialist and dialectical.

On the surface! Ambiguous, actually! He preached materialism.

On the surface! It seems to be idealistic, and the Tao has been deified. In fact! Just to cater to the situation at the time. Without that, he would not be able to continue preaching, even! Die for it!

Not to mention in the Spring and Autumn Period, even in the modern West, there were also those who were punished for spreading materialist ideas.

It can only be said! At that time, the cognition of the world and human beings had not yet been generally improved, and the ideas you put forward were ahead of their time, so they were naturally not accepted by the world.

"Confucius thinks! In this world, there are heaven and earth, gods and ghosts......" After listening to Lao Tzu's explanation, Confucius did not agree.

"You?" Lao Tzu was shocked!

"I have read a lot of ancient books, all of which record the records of the gods of heaven and earth...... "Confucius cited them one by one.

With Confucius's ability to remember, he remembered all the books he had read. Not only to simply remember, but also to understand yourself.

Lao Tzu did not make a sound, and listened to Confucius. What Confucius said was about Zhou etiquette. It is recorded in the Zhou Rite that when the sacrifice began in ancient times, and what methods and methods were used. The reason why this deity is sacrificed is because when did this deity appear. Not one person saw it, but the whole world saw it......

In fact! Most of what Confucius said are myths and legends recorded in ancient books, which are unfounded and cannot be verified. If it can be verified, it is that it appeared in an ancient book.

For the myths and legends that Confucius said, Lao Tzu naturally knows. To know! How many books did Lao Tzu read in his life? It was only after reading a lot of books that he put forward his Taoist views.

After listening to Confucius's explanation, Lao Tzu sighed: "If you think that this world was created by the gods, not evolved, and not born from heaven and earth!" This will have a direct impact on your approach to salvation and your perspective! If you have a different point of view, you will have a different way to save the world!

If you think that this world, including human beings, was created by the gods, human beings were not born from heaven and earth. So! If you want to save the world, you will be left to tradition! You can only use traditional methods to save.

For example! If you study the weekly rites, you have a reason! You think that others need to be educated in order to be human. There is a reason why you think that the king and the Son of Heaven are supreme and not equal to others. If you continue like this, even if you succeed, you can only be with the mud, and you will achieve it for a while, not for a long time. Because! You didn't solve the problem at the root of ......"

Confucius interrupted: "Sir's Taoism is good, but if Taoism is comprehensively promoted, how easy is it to talk about it?" Let the Son of Heaven, kings, and hereditary nobles give up their existing lives, in this troubled world, only fools are willing to ......"

Hearing Confucius say this, Lao Tzu sighed and didn't say anything more.

Confucius did not accept the materialist view, believing that there were gods in heaven and earth, and he could not think correctly. All his efforts will only end up in mud.

If the starting point is wrong, the result must be wrong.

(End of chapter)